A.A. and Its Votes on the Lord's Prayer

More and more efforts are being expended by a few members of the A.A. fellowship to move Almighty God out of the A.A. and other 12-Step and “anonymous” meetings. A Common technique is to call for a “group conscience” vote on elimination of the Lord’s Prayer. Doing so, they almost invariably ignore the modern tradition that a “group conscience” was intended first to seek the guidance of “a loving God as He may express Himself. . .” A concerned AA recently asked me what could be done about “voting God out,” and I have written a recommended response in this article.

The answer revolves around what A.A.’s co-founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob did in the early A.A. days. And the answer is that they closed meetings with the Lord’s Prayer.